Game system and game program

ABSTRACT

A reroute table MT in which a new route is set to a reroute point Lr with respect to each of the routes R 1,  R 2,  R 3  where a predetermined destination is set, a route determining portion  40   d  which determines the present route R, a position determining portion  40   a  which determines the position of moving body CA, and a reroute thinking portion  40   e  which determines whether the position of moving body CA reaches the reroute point Lr which is set for the present route by referring to the reroute table MT are comprised. The route determining portion  40   d  determines as the present route, the new route set to the reroute point Lr by referring to the reroute table MT, when the moving body CA reaches the reroute point Lr.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a game system and a game program for agame where a moving body, an operation object, is made to travel apredetermined route.

BACKGROUND ART

There is a well-known game system where a virtual car is made to travela predetermined route to measure a lap time and/or execute a car racewith the other cars. In such game system, it is also well-known that aradar image is displayed as a means for a player to recognize a positionof his/her car in the route (for example, see the following patentliterature 1).

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

PTL 1: JP 3475470 B

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Problem to be Solved by Invention

However, the conventional car game system is designed such that thevirtual car of the operation object is made to travel a route selectedbefore the start of game, and not designed such that the virtual car canalso roads except for the selected route. A car navigation system for ageneral car has a function to, when the car turns off a route after theroute is determined to a destination, re-detect an alternative route tothe destination. However, this proceeding requires a big amount of timeand uses a big amount of memory.

Then, the present invention aims to provide a game system and a gameprogram where the next route is detected without big proceeding loads,even if the car turns off the route where the car should travel.

Solution to Problem

A game system as one aspect of the present invention solves the aboveproblem by being configured as a game system comprising comprising: anoperation input portion which accepts operations by a player; a gamecontrol position which controls a game where a plurality of routes areprepared, each of which is constructed so that a moving body as anoperation object reaches a same destination through a plurality of roadsextended like a web in a virtual region, and the traveling roadscomposing one of the routes are indicated for the moving body so thatthe moving body follows the route to reach the destination; and adisplay portion which displays a state that the moving body travels theroute, wherein the game system further comprises: a route informationstorage portion which stores route information which is information forindicating each of the plurality of routes to the player; and a reroutetable where, for each of the routes, to the reroute point which is seton each road off the route, a different route including the road off theroute or a different route connecting to the road off the route is setas a new route, the game control portion comprises: a route determiningportion which determines, from the plurality of routes, a present routewhich is a route where the moving body is made to travel; a positiondetermining portion which determines a position of the moving bodyappropriately to the operation by the player; a route navigating portionwhich indicates the present route to the player based on the position ofthe moving body determined by the position determining portion and theroute information of the present route; and a reroute thinking portionwhich, in reference to the reroute table, determines whether theposition of the moving body determined by the position determiningportion has got a predetermined relation with a reroute point set on thepresent route, and the route determining portion determines as thepresent route, when the reroute thinking portion determines that theposition of the moving body has got the predetermined relation, the newroute set to the reroute point in reference to the reroute table.

In the game system of the present invention, the route where the movingbody is made to travel is composed of the plurality of roads. Therefore,the moving body can travel the roads except for the ones where themoving body should travel. Accordingly, for notifying the player of thedirection and the road where the player should go ahead, the presentroute determined by the route determining portion is indicated to theplayer by the route navigating portion. In the case that the moving bodyenters a road off the present route, when it is determined by thereroute thinking portion that the moving body has got the predeterminedrelation with the reroute point, the reroute table is referred by theroute determining portion. In the reroute table, a new route to be setas the next present route is set to each reroute point which is set onthe road off the present route. Thereby, the route determining portiondetermines as the present route, in reference to the reroute tablecorresponding to the present route, the new route set to the reroutepoint which has got the predetermined relation with the moving body.

Thereby, the present route is switched to the new route. a route whichis indicated by the route navigating portion is the present route afterthe switch, that is, the new route. As all of the routes are designed soas to reach the same destination, even if the route is switched to theother route, the moving body can reach the destination by following thepresent route which has been switched to. Therefore, even if the movingbody travels off the present route, it is not necessary to reconstruct aroute from the position existing off the present route to thedestination. Only by switching the present route, a reroute process canbe executed. Thereby, it is possible to reroute a route to the movingbody reaches a predetermined destination without big loads and longprocessing time.

The “predetermined relation with the reroute point” includes a case thatthe position of the moving body exists within a predetermined distancefrom the reroute point, a case that the position of the moving body isthe reroute point, a case that the moving body passes through thereroute point and the like. The reroute table may be a table where thereroute point and the the new route are correlated to each other foreach route, or may be a table where the present route and the new routeare correlated to the reroute point. As the navigation by the routenavigating portion, a conventional way of indicating a specified routeto a player can be applied to. For example, like a navigation image of anavigation system for a general car, the position of the moving body inthe present route may be displayed so as to be distinguishablyindicated, or the direction where the moving body should go ahead may bedisplayed at an appropriate timing.

The present invention includes a case that the start point of each routeis the same point and a case that the start point of each route is notthe same point. The road may be a way existing physically such as a roadand train tracks, and may be a way not existing physically such as awaterway and a skyway. It is enough that the moving body is a bodytraveling roads. The moving body may be a one representing an actual oneor a fictional one. The present invention at a moment of starting thegame may be determined by the player's selection, may be determined bythe game system based on a play level of the player, a number of playtimes or the like, or may be determined at random.

The route information of each of the routes may be configured in such away that the route forms a round route where the same destination is setas a start point. Thereby, it is possible to execute a game where themoving body goes round in a virtual region.

The route information may be map information where each of the route isrepresented distinguishably in the virtual region, and the routenavigating portion may display on the display portion a navigation imagewhere at leas one part of the present route is indicated taking theposition of the moving body as a criterion. Thereby, like a navigationimage of a navigation system for a general car, it is possible todisplay an image indicating the present position of the moving body inthe present route.

The game system may further comprise a navigation table where navigationinformation for indicating a travelable direction is set to each of aplurality of navigation points located in each of the roads, and theroute navigation portion may display on the display portion, when theposition of the moving body determined by the position determiningportion has got a predetermined relation with the navigation point, thenavigation information set to the navigation point, in reference to thenavigation table. If the navigation information is set as a signindicating a travelable direction, it is possible to provide anatmosphere of a traffic sign on a general road. Moreover, it is possibleto avoid the moving body going in a dangerous direction or a reversedirection.

A process maker for distinguishing each of the reroute points and thenavigation points may be given to each of the reroute points and thenavigation points, the navigation table and the reroute table may beconfigured as a process table in such a way that the navigationinformation corresponding to the process marker is set to the processmarker given to each of the navigation points, and, to the processmarker given each of the reroute points, the route corresponding to thereroute point is set as the present route together with the new route.Thereby, the game control portion can execute processes by referring toone process table.

The navigation table may be prepared for each of the routes, theplurality of navigation points may be provided on the correspondingroute, the navigation information may be set so as to indicate atravelling direction of the corresponding route, and the routenavigating portion may display on the display portion, when the positionof the moving body determined by the position determining portion hasgot a predetermined relation with the navigation point, the navigationinformation set to the navigation point by referring to the navigationtable of the present route. Thereby, for example, when the moving bodyreaches the navigation point, the traveling direction of the presentroute is displayed. Accordingly, if the navigation point is located at apoint where the player could be lost, a diverging point or the like, itis possible to avoid the moving body going off the present route.

In the navigation table of each of the routes set as the new route, thenavigation point may be further provided on the road which connects tothe route, and to the navigation point, the navigation information forleading the moving body to the route is correlated. Thereby, when themoving body enters a route determined as the new route from a road off aroute, the direction where the moving body should go ahead is displayed.Therefore, for example, it is possible to avoid the moving body enteringa road different from the new route and going in a reverse direction atthe moment of entering the route determined as the new route.

A process marker for distinguishing each of the reroute points and thenavigation points in the virtual region may be given to each of thereroute points and the navigation points, and the navigation table andthe reroute table for each of the routes may be configured as oneprocess table, in which the process markers are set, the process markersbeing given respectively to the navigation points and the reroute pointsset for each of the routes, in such a way that the navigationinformation corresponding to each of the navigation points is set to theprocess marker given to the navigation point, and the new route set toeach of the reroute points is set to the process marker given to thereroute point. Thereby, the game control portion can execute processesin each of the routes only by referring to one process table.

The game system may further comprise a sound output portion whichoutputs sound, and voice navigation information for representing thenavigation information by voice may further set to each of thenavigation points in the navigation table, and the route navigatingportion may output through the sound output portion, when displaying thenavigation information set to the navigation portion, a voice navigationby the voice navigation information set to the navigation point.Thereby, it is possible to lead the player to follow the present routeby the voice navigation information as well as displaying the navigationinformation.

The plurality of roads extended like a web in the virtual region may beroads representing at least one part of general roads in a predeterminedtown, and the moving body may be a travelling body. Thereby, forexample, it is possible to give to the player a feeling of travelling atown where the player has never been, and it is possible to increaseentertainment ability of the game.

A game program of the present invention as one aspect of the presentinvention solves the above problem by being configured as a game programfor making a computer function, the computer comprising: an operationinput portion which accepts operations by a player; a game controlposition which controls a game where a plurality of routes are prepared,each of which is constructed so that a moving body as an operationobject reaches a same destination through a plurality of roads extendedlike a web in a virtual region, and the traveling roads composing one ofthe routes are indicated for the moving body so that the moving bodyfollows the route to reach the destination; and a display portion whichdisplays a state that the moving body travels the route; a routeinformation storage portion which stores route information which isinformation for indicating each of the plurality of routes to theplayer; and a reroute table where, for each of the routes, to thereroute point which is set on each road off the route, a different routeincluding the road off the route or a different route connecting to theroad off the route is set as a new route, wherein the game program makesthe game control portion function as: a route determining portion whichdetermines, from the plurality of routes, a present route which is aroute where the moving body is made to travel; a position determiningportion which determines a position of the moving body appropriately tothe operation by the player; a route navigating portion which indicatesthe present route to the player based on the position of the moving bodydetermined by the position determining portion and the route informationof the present route; and a reroute thinking portion which, in referenceto the reroute table, determines whether the position of the moving bodydetermined by the position determining portion has got a predeterminedrelation with a reroute point set on the present route, and makes theroute determining portion determine as the present route, when thereroute thinking portion determines that the position of the moving bodyhas got the predetermined relation, the new route set to the reroutepoint in reference to the reroute table.

Effects of the Invention

As mentioned above, according to the present invention, for each of theroutes, the reroute table where the new route is set at the reroutepoint is prepared, and the route determining portion for determining thepresent route, the position determining portion for determining theposition of the moving body, the route navigation portion for leadingthe player along the present route based on the position of the movingbody and the the route information of the present route, and the reroutethinking portion for determining whether the the position of the movingbody has got a predetermined relation with the reroute point byreferring to the reroute table, are provided. The route determiningportion, when the reroute thinking portion determines that the positionof moving body has, determines the new route set to the reroute point asthe present route. Thereby, it is possible to provide a game system andthe like where the next route is detected without big proceeding loads,even if the car turns off the route where the car should travel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[FIG. 1] A diagram showing an example of a game image of a game of thepresent embodiment.

[FIG. 2] A diagram showing general roads travelable for a car in thepresent embodiment.

[FIG. 3] A diagram showing three routes set based on the general roadsshown in FIG. 2.

[FIG. 4] A schematic showing a hardware configuration of the game systemof the present embodiment.

[FIG. 5] A diagram showing a state where the present route and thereference information are switched.

[FIG. 6] A diagram showing a state where markers are given to thegeneral roads shown in FIG. 2.

[FIG. 7] A diagram showing an example of coordinate table shown in FIG.4.

[FIG. 8] A diagram showing an example of sign table shown in FIG. 4.

[FIG. 9] A diagram showing an example of sound table shown in FIG. 4.

[FIG. 10] A diagram showing an example of marker table shown in FIG. 4.

[FIG. 11] A diagram showing a state where the processes at the moment ofrerouting, the car movement, and the set route are correlated to eachother.

[FIG. 12] A flowchart showing processes executed in a game process.

[FIG. 13] A diagram obtained by modifying FIG. 6 for the high levelembodiment.

[FIG. 14] A diagram showing an example of marker table in the high levelembodiment.

[FIG. 15] A diagram showing a state of reference information posed bythe switch of the present route in the high level embodiment.

EMBODIMENT FOR EXECUTING INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a game image GI of a game which is providedby a game system of the present invention. The game system of thepresent invention provides the game such that a car CA as a moving bodywhich is an operation object of a player is made to go round apredetermined round route three times, and the players competes for thefastest lap time. The game image GI has a main image MI showing a statethat the car CA travels a road and a navigation image NI (hereinafter,referred to as the “navi image NI”) for recognizing the present positionof the car CA in the round route. In the main image MI, a sign Symindicating a travelling direction where the car should travel, a meterdisplay MD indicating a speed, a travel distance of the CA and the like,and elapsed time LT indicating the elapsed time after the start aredisplayed.

The round route in the present invention is generated from a virtualregion as shown in FIG. 2, for example, the plural general roads GRactually extended like a web in Britain's town TN. In this way, thevirtual region of the present invention is preferably a part of anactually existing town. The general roads are actual existing roadsincluding highways and toll ways. The general roads GR which are used inthe game are set as roads where the car CA can travel in the game of thepresent embodiment, from the roads which actually exist in the Britain'stown TN. In this embodiment, three kinds of round routes, a route R1, aroute R2 and a route R3 shown in FIG. 3, ware made based on the generalroads GR shown in FIG. 2. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary todistinguish between the route R1, the route R2 and the route R3, each ofthem is referred to as the “route R”.

A start point SP is set at the same position for all of the routes R1,R2, R3. Thus, to each route R, the general roads are selected so thatthe car CA can go round the Britain's town TN by setting the start pointSP as a destination point. When any one of the three routes is selectedby the player, in the game image GI, the sign Sym is displayedappropriately while the car CA travelling, to make the car CA travel theselected route, the sign Sym indicating a travel direction where the carCA should travel. Also, a voice navigation is outputted with the displayof the sign Sym. Moreover, in the navi image NI, similarly to anavigation image of a navigation system for a general car, the positionof the car CA and the pathways of the selected route R aredistinguishably displayed on the map of the Britain's town TN. By thesign Sym and the navi image NI, the player can travel on the selectedroute R in the web of general roads GR. Hereinafter, the display of thesign Sym and the vocal navigation are collectively referred to as the“route navigation”.

on the other hand, when the car has turned off the selected route Randentered a general road GR, the pathways to the start point SP arererouted, and the route navigation based on the pathways reroutedstarts. As the result, the car CA can reach the start point SP as thedestination point. In the present embodiment, the route as the result ofreroute is any one of the routes R1, R2, R3. For example, when the carCA enters a general road GR off the route R1 while traveling the routeR1, the route R is rerouted to the route R2 or the route R3. Thus, inthe present invention, processes for changing the present route R whichis set as a route to be travelled at the present to the other route R,are executed as a reroute process.

Thereby, it is possible to provide such a feeling that the player drivesthe general road GR by car CA, and possible to always return to thestart point SP as the present route R is rerouted to the other route Reven if the car CA enters the general road GR off the present route R.Moreover, as the present invention is configured so that the rerouteprocess is executed by switching within the routes R predeterminedprepared, only a little amount of processing load and processing time isrequired.

A method of executing the reroute in the game system 1 of the presentinvention will be described concretely. First, a hardware configurationof the game system 1 of the present invention will be described usingFIG. 4. The game system 1 comprises an operation input portion 10, aspeaker 20, a monitor 30, and a game control unit 40. The operationinput unit 10 accepts operations by the player. In the presentinvention, the operation input unit 10 includes a handle for a game, anaccelerator pedal for a game, a brake pedal for a game and the like. Thespeaker 20 outputs various kinds of imitative sound and a voicenavigation. In the monitor 30, mainly, the game image GI is displayed.The game control unit 40 comprises a CPU and a storage area 50 necessaryfor operations of the CPU, and functions as a computer. The game controlunit 40 functions, by running a game program GP mentioned later, as aposition determining portion 40 a, a state updating portion 40 b, aroute navigating portion 40 c, a route determining portion 40 d, areroute thinking portion 40 e, a sound generating portion 40 f, a mainimage generating portion 40 g and a navi image generating portion 40 h.

The sound generating portion 40 f generates the imitative sound and thevoice navigation and the like to be output from the speaker 20. The mainimage generating portion 40 f and the navi image generating portion 40 hgenerate images displayed in the main image MI and the navi image NIrespectively, appropriately for the present state of the car A. Theposition determining portion 40 a determines the present position of thecar CA in accordance with the operation by the player. In the presentembodiment, each position is specified by the coordinates which areobtained by setting a predetermined position in the Britain's town TN asthe origin. The state updating portion 40 b determines the change of thestate, such as the elapsed time, travel distance and the like, posed bythe change of the position of the car CA, and updates the state. Theroute navigating portion 40 c indicates the travelling direction basedon the route R and the position of the car CA, and determines the imageto be displayed as the navi image NI. The reroute thinking portion 40 edetermines whether the reroute process should be executed or not. Theroute determining portion 40 d determines the present route R at themoment of game start and in the case that the reroute process isexecuted.

In the storage area 50, a marker table MT, map information MapI, areference table RT and a game program GP for executing the presentinvention are stored. The reference table RT is a table which isreferred to sharedly in the game system 1 whichever the kind of route R,and, in the present embodiment, includes a coordinate table CooT, a signtable SymT, and a sound table SndT. The marker table MT and the mapinformation MapI are prepared for each route R. The marker table MT is atable set with respect to processes executed while the car CA travellingthe corresponding route. The map information MapI is information fordisplaying the navi image NI in such a way that the corresponding routeR is displayed distinguishably in the map of the Britain's town.

Hereinafter, the marker table MT and the map information MapIcorresponding to the route R1 are referred to as the marker table MT1and the map information MapI1 respectively, those corresponding to theroute R2 are referred to as the marker table MT2 and the map informationMapI2 respectively, and those corresponding to the route R3 are referredto as the marker table MT3 and the map information MapI3 respectively.At the moment of reroute, the marker table MT and the map informationMapI to be referred to during the game are switched as shown in FIG. 5,with the switch of the route R as the present route R. Hereinafter, themarker table MT to be referred to is referred to as the marker referencetable, and the map information MapI to be referred to is referred to asthe reference map information.

The concrete contents set in the marker table MT will be described usingFIGS. 6 to 10. As shown in FIG. 6, the markers L1 to L46 are assigned tothe travelable general roads GR in the Britain's town TN. Hereinafter,when it is not necessary to distinguish between the markers L1 to L46,each of them is referred to as the “marker L”. “The travelable generalroads GR” may be set from all of the general roads GR in the Britain'stown TN. The general roads GR may include any kinds of roads actuallyexisting, such as toll ways, highways, and underground roads GRgd.Further, a road GRad which is not an actual road may be added to thegeneral roads GR.

The position coordinates of each marker L are set in the coordinatetable CooT which is shown in FIG. 7. When the car CA reaches any one ofthe markers L, the process correlated to the marker L is executed. Inthe marker table MT, the process to be executed in association with theposition of each marker L is set to each marker L.

The present embodiment is designed in such a way that, as shown in FIG.6, the car CA can travel in only one direction on each general road GR.By setting only one direction of general road GR as a travelabledirection, it is possible to provide a game environment similar to ageneral car race game. For example, when the car CA progresses in thereverse direction, the state is determined as “traveling in the reversedirection”. However, the present invention is designed so that, in aportion except for the route within a rotary, even if the car CA travelsin a direction different from a rotation direction, that state is notdetermined as “traveling in the reverse direction”. The concreteprocesses to be executed in relation to the position of each marker Lwill be described taking the marker table MT1 of the route R1 as anexample. In the game system 1, each of the signs Sym which is displayedin the game image GI, is recognized by the sign ID which is correlatedto each sign Sym at the sign table SymT shown in FIG. 8. Each type ofthe voice navigations which is outputted from the speaker 20, isrecognized by the sound ID which is correlated to each type of voicenavigation in the sound table SndT shown in FIG. 9.

In the marker table MT1, as shown in FIG. 10, the markers L for theroute R1 are set. The markers L for the route R1 include makers Lglocated at navigation points, markers Lr located at reroute points, andmarkers Ln located at new route navigation points. The marker Lg islocated on the route R1. When the car CA reaches the marker Lg, theroute navigation is executed, the route navigation indicating thetravelling direction for the route R1. The reroute point where themarker Lr is located is a point where the reroute process is executed,the point being located on the general road GR off but near the routeR1. When the car CA reaches the marker Lr, the reroute process isexecuted.

The new route navigation point where the marker Ln is located is a pointwhich exists on the general road GR connecting the route R1 and theother route R, and exists immediately before entering the route R1. Whenthe car CA reaches the marker Ln, the route navigation is executed forindicating a direction where the car CA should travel to enter the routeR1. As mentioned above, in the marker table MT1, the part where thereroute point Lr located off the route R1 is correlated to a new routeNr to become a new present route R by the reroute process, functions asa reroute table. In the marker table MT1, the part where the types ofthe route navigation are correlated to the navigation points Lg and thenew route navigation points Ln respectively, functions as a navigationtable. Thereby, the marker table MT1 functions as a process table.

In the marker table MT1, to each marker Lg, the sign Sym to be displayedand the voice navigation SndG appropriately for the sign Sym are set asthe route navigation. To the marker Lr, the new route Nr which isswitched as the present route R from the route R1 and the voicenavigation SndG to notify the reroute are set. To the new route Nr, theroute R is set, the route R connecting to the general road GR where thecar CA is travelling at the moment. To the marker Ln, the sign Sym andthe voice navigation SndG for the route navigation are set, so that thecar CA can enter the route R1 from the general road GR where the markerLn is set. To the marker L22 set at the start point SP, only the voicenavigations SndG for the moment of start and for the moment of goal areset.

In the example shown in FIG. 10, for example, after starting from thestart point SP, when the car CA reaches the marker L01 as the navigationpoint Lg, the sign Sym indicating a going straight (SY1) is displayed inthe game image GI and the voice navigation SndG of “go straight”(SD1) isoutputted from the speaker 20. In a case that the car CA takes a rightturn at the point where the car CA should go straight and reaches themarker L03 as the reroute point Lr, the voice navigation SndG, “reroute”(SD4), is outputted and the present route R is switched from the routeR1 to the route R2 set as the new route Nr. On the other hand, when thecar CA which is travelling the general road GRa toward the route R1,reaches the marker L25 as the new route navigation point Ln, in order tolead the car CA to the route R1, the sign Sym (SY2) indicating a leftturn is displayed in the game image GI and the voice navigation, “leftturn” (SD2), is outputted.

Also, to the marker table MT2 and the marker table MT3 of the route R2and the route R3 respectively, in the same way as the marker table MT1,the markers Lg, Lr, Ln may be set, and the voice navigations SndG, thesigns Sym and the new routes Nr may be set appropriately. For example,the marker L26 on the general road GRa existing off the route R3 is setin the marker table MT3 as the reroute point Lr of the route R3, and asthe new route Nr, the route R1 which the general road GRa connects to isset. Also in each of the marker tables MT2,MT3, in the same way as themarker table MT1, the parts relating to the reroute points Lr functionas the reroute table, and the parts relating to the navigation point Lgand the new route navigation point Ln function as the navigation table.Thereby, each of the marker tables MT2,MT3 functions as the processtable.

Processes, which are executed by the game control unit 40 in the casethat the car CA travelling the route R3 enters the general road GRa andthe present route R is changed from the route R3 to the route R1 byreroute based on the marker table MT set in the way above mentioned,will be described using FIG. 11. First, in a state that the route R3 isset as the present route R, the marker table MT3 is set as the markerreference table and the map information MapI3 is set as the referencemap information. In the navi image NI, the pathways of the route R3 aredistinguishably displayed based on the map information MapI3 in such away the position of the car CA is set as a criterion.

After entering the general road GRa from the route R3, when the car CAreaches the marker L26 as the reroute point Lr, the process for themarker L26 is executed referring to the marker table MT3. As the routeR1 is set as the new route Nr for the marker L26 as mentioned above, aroute switch process for switching the present route R to the route R1is executed as the reroute process. In the reroute process, the markertable MT1 is set as the marker reference table and the map informationMapI1 is set as the reference map information. Thereby, when the car CAtraveling the route R3 enters the general road GRa, the reroute processis executed at the marker L26, and the route R1 is set as a new presentroute R. In the reroute process, the voice navigation SndG (“reroute”)set to the marker L26 is also outputted.

Then, when the car CA reaches the marker L25, the marker table MT1,which is the marker reference table, is referred to, and a processrelating to the marker L25 is executed. In the marker table MT1, as thesign Sym and the voice navigation SndG are set to the marker L25 inorder to indicate a left turn, the route navigation for indicating aleft turn is executed. If turning to the left by following the routenavigation, the car CA can enter the route R1. By making the car CAtravel the route R1, that is, by making the car CA follow the routenavigation based on the marker table MT1 and the navi image NI based onthe map information MapI1, it is possible to make the car CA return tothe start point SP. Then, the lap time is measured. In the case that thepresent route R is changed to the route R1 by the reroute process, inthe present embodiment, it remains that the reroute R1 is set as thepresent route R until the next reroute process is executed.

The game process will be described following a flowchart shown in FIG.12, the game process being controlled by the game control unit 40 fromthe moment of game start to the moment of game end. The game process iscontrolled by the game control unit 40 c. First, at step S100, the gamecontrol unit 40 makes the player select one route R to be used in thegame from the tree routes R1 to R3. In the present embodiment, the casethat the route R1 is selected will be described. Subsequently, at stepS105, the selected route R1 is set as the present route R1, the markertable MT1 is set as the marker reference table, and the map informationof the route R1 is set as the reference map information.

Next, the process goes to step S110 to execute a pre-start process. Inthe pre-start process, the position coordinates of the car CA are set tothe start point SP (L22) and the value of lap count for the car CA isset to 1. And, the state that the car CA, the operation object of theplayer, is located at the start point SP is displayed in the monitor 30,and in the navi image NI, the position of the car CA is indicated at thestart point SP of the present route R1. Subsequently, at step S115, theprocess becomes a waiting state for a start operation. When the startoperation is performed by the player, the process goes to step S120 tostart a travel process which is required for the travelling of the carCA.

In the travel process, the position determining portion 40 a determinesthe position of the travelling car CA, the state updating portion 40 bstarts and updates appropriately counting the travelling timer andmeasuring the travel distance meter, and the route navigating portion 40c displays based on the map information MapI1 the navi image NI on themonitor 30 through the navi image generating portion 40 h, the naviimage NI indicating the route R1 taking the position of the car CA as acriterion. The travel process is continued until the car CA crosses thefinish line. Additionally, when the car CA starts travelling, a statethat the car CA starts travelling is displayed on the monitor 30 and thevoice navigation SndG (SD8 “voice navigation starts”) set to the markerL22 for the start moment is generated and outputted from the speaker 20.

When the travel process starts, the process goes to step S125 to becomea waiting state for the car CA to reach the marker L referring to themarker table MT1 as the marker reference table. In the presentembodiment, when the position coordinates of the car CA enters within apredetermined range from the coordinates of the marker L, it isdetermined that the car CA has reached the marker L. Hereinafter, themarker L which the car CA has reached is referred to as the “reachedmarker L”. When it is determined that the car CA has reached any one ofthe markers L, the process goes to step S130 to determine whether thereached marker L is the start point SP, that is, the marker L22 or not.In the case that the marker L is not the start point SP, the processgoes to step S135 to determine whether the reached marker L is thereroute point Lr or not.

In the case that a new route Nr is set to the reached marker L in themarker table T1, it is determined that the reached marker L is thereroute point. Thereby, the game control unit 40 functions as thereroute thinking portion 40 e. In the case that it is determined thatthe reached marker L is the reroute point, the process goes to step S140to generate and output from the speaker 20 the voice navigation SndG(SD4 “rerouting”) correlated to the reached marker L, and subsequently,at step S145, the reroute process is executed. In the reroute process,the switch of present route R is executed. That is, the new route Nr isset as the present route R, and the marker table MT corresponding to thepresent route R set newly is set as the marker reference table, and themap information MapI of the new present route R is set as the referencemap information. Thereby, the game control unit 40 functions as theroute determining portion 40 d.

After the reroute process, the process returns to step S125 in order toexecute the process relating to the next marker L. On the other hand, inthe case that it is determined that the reached marker L is not thereroute point at step S135, the process goes to step S150. At step S150,the sign Sym (for example, the sign of going straight) set to thereached marker L is displayed in the game image GI, and the voicenavigation SndG (for example, “go straight”) set to the reached markerL, is generated and outputted from the speaker 20. After the process ofstep S150, in order to execute the process for the next marker L, theprocess returns to step S125.

In the case that it is determined that the reached marker L is the startpoint SP, the process goes to step S155. At step S155, it is determinedwhether the car CA has crossed the finish line or not. In the case ofthe value of lap count=3, it is determined that the car CA has crossedthe finish line. When it is determined that the car CA has not yetcrossed the finish line, that is, in the case of the value of lapcount<3, the process goes to step S160 to add 1 to the value of the lapcount and returns to step S125 in order to execute the process for thenext lap.

At step S155, when it is determined that the car CA has crossed thefinish line, the process goes to step S165 to execute a goal process. Inthe goal process, the state that the car CA is crossing the finish lineis displayed on the monitor 30, the voice navigation SndG (SD7“finish”)set to the marker L22 for the moment of finish is generated andoutputted from the speaker 20. Moreover, for example, the game result isdisplayed based on the counted lap time and the travel distance, andvarious kinds of parameters of the player are updated based on the gameresult. After the goal process, the game process is terminated.

In the above mentioned embodiment, the game system is designed so thatonly the direction to follow the present route R is indicated in both ofthe navi image NI and the sign Sym. However, for example, the gamesystem may be designed so that the route navigation indicates alldirections where the car CA can travel similarly to actual trafficsigns. Thereby, as options allowing the player to travel increase, itbecomes difficult that the player selects the travel direction to followthe present route R, and due to that, a higher play skill is required.Hereinafter, the embodiment which is configured so that the routenavigation indicates travelable directions in addition to the directionfor the present route R is referred to as a “high level embodiment”.

In the high level embodiment, similarly to the above mentionedembodiment, the map information MapI is provided for each route R andthe map information MapI corresponding to the present route R is set asthe reference map information. With respect to the marker table MT, ahigh-level marker table MThi shared by the three routes R1 to R3 isprovided. The high-level marker table MThi is always the markerreference table regardless of kind of the present route R. Thehigh-level marker table MThi will be described using FIGS. 13 and 14.The markers L1 to L46 and the travel directions indicated on eachgeneral road GR shown in FIG. 13 are the same as those shown in FIG. 16.

The contents set to each marker L in the high-level marker table MThimay be set in a similar way to the contents in the marker table MT. Thepoints different from the case of the marker table MT will be describedwith respect to each of the navigation point Lg, the reroute point Lrand the new route navigation point Ln individually. First, in the caseof marker L as the navigation point Lg, the sign Sym of the marker L isset in such a way that the car CA can travel any general roads GR. Forexample, in the case of the marker L01 as the navigation point Lg, thesign (SY4) which indicates the straight direction for the routes R1 andR3 and the right-turn direction for the route R2, that is, the sign(SY4) indicating the straight direction and the right-turn direction isset so that the car CA can travel any one of the routes R1 to R3.

The general road GRb, extending in a right-turn direction from the routeR3 passing through the marker L10, does not constitute any routes R.However, as the general road GRb is a travelable road, the sign sym(SY4) indicating that a straight and a right-turn are allowed is set tothe marker L10. In the present embodiment, in the case of indicating twodirections, the voice navigation is not available. However, for example,the voice navigation sndG such as “you can go straight or turn right”may be set to the marker L10.

With respect to the marker L which is set as the reroute point Lr ineach marker table MT, the present route Pr as well as the new route Nrare set, as a reroute condition, to each of the markers L which can bethe reroute point Lr. The present route Pr is a route R corresponding tothe marker table MT where the marker L is set as the reroute point Lr.For example, with respect to the marker L03 on the route R2, the routeR1 and the route R3 are set as the present route Pr and the route R2 isset as the new route Nr, so that it is determined that the marker L03 isthe reroute point Lr only when the present route R is the route R1 orthe route R3. When there exist plural routes R each of which could bethe new route Nr, any one of the routes R may be set as the new routeNr.

With respect to the marker L which is set as the new route navigationpoint Ln, similarly to the above mentioned embodiment, the sign sym andthe voice navigation sndG to indicate the travel direction may be set insuch a way that the car CA which has reached the new route navigationpoint Ln can enter the route R set as the present route R. Thehigh-level marker table MThi functions as the process table. Similarlyto the above mentioned marker table MT, the parts relating to thereroute points Lr function as the reroute table, and the parts relatingto the navigation points Lg and the new route navigation points Lnfunction as the navigation table.

FIG. 15 shows the state where the high-level marker table MThi and themap information MapI to be referred to are switched with the switch ofthe present route R. As shown in FIG. 15, though the reference mapinformation is switched with the switch of the present route R, thehigh-level marker table MThi is referred to for any kinds of route R.Next, the game process for the high-level embodiment will be described.As processes similar to those in the game process for the abovementioned embodiment are executed in the game process for the high-levelembodiment, only the parts different from the processes in the abovementioned embodiment will be described.

At step S105, whichever route R is the present route R, the high-levelmarker table MThi is set as the marker reference table. With respect tothe determination whether the reached marker L is the reroute point Lror not in step S135, when the route R set as the present route R is setto the reached marker as the present route Pr, it is determined that thereached marker is the reroute point Lr. In the route switching processin step S145, the map information MapI corresponding to the switchedpresent route R is set as the reference map information, but thehigh-level marker table MThi remains as the marker reference table.

The present invention is not limited to the above mentioned embodiment,and may be executed in various kinds of embodiments. For example, it isnot necessary that the routes of the present invention are the roundroutes, which have the start points SP located at the same position, andthe routes having the same destination may be employed. In the case thatthe same destination is set, it is not necessary that the start pointsSP are the same position. Although the marker table MT for each route Rhas the portion corresponding to the reroute table, each reroute tablemay be set independently. In this case, it may be constructed similarlyto the reroute point Lr in the high-level embodiment. The number ofroutes R is not limited “3”, and it is enough that plural routes areprepared.

1. A game system comprising: an operation input portion which acceptsoperations by a player; a game control position which controls a gamewhere a plurality of routes are prepared, each of which is constructedso that a moving body as an operation object reaches a same destinationthrough a plurality of roads extended like a web in a virtual region,and the traveling roads composing one of the routes are indicated forthe moving body so that the moving body follows the route to reach thedestination; and a display portion which displays a state that themoving body travels the route, wherein the game system furthercomprises: a route information storage portion which stores routeinformation which is information for indicating each of the plurality ofroutes to the player; and a reroute table where, for each of the routes,to the reroute point which is set on each road off the route, adifferent route including the road off the route or a different routeconnecting to the road off the route is set as a new route, the gamecontrol portion comprises: a route determining portion which determines,from the plurality of routes, a present route which is a route where themoving body is made to travel; a position determining portion whichdetermines a position of the moving body appropriately to the operationby the player; a route navigating portion which indicates the presentroute to the player based on the position of the moving body determinedby the position determining portion and the route information of thepresent route; and a reroute thinking portion which, in reference to thereroute table, determines whether the position of the moving bodydetermined by the position determining portion has got a predeterminedrelation with a reroute point set on the present route, and the routedetermining portion determines as the present route, when the reroutethinking portion determines that the position of the moving body has gotthe predetermined relation, the new route set to the reroute point inreference to the reroute table.
 2. The game system of claim 1, whereinthe route information of each of the routes is configured in such a waythat the route forms a round route where the same destination is set asa start point.
 3. The game system of claim 1, wherein the routeinformation is map information where each of the route is representeddistinguishably in the virtual region, and the route navigating portiondisplays on the display portion a navigation image where at leas onepart of the present route is indicated taking the position of the movingbody as a criterion.
 4. The game system of claim 1, further comprising anavigation table where navigation information for indicating atravelable direction is set to each of a plurality of navigation pointslocated in each of the roads, wherein the route navigation portiondisplays on the display portion, when the position of the moving bodydetermined by the position determining portion has got a predeterminedrelation with the navigation point, the navigation information set tothe navigation point, in reference to the navigation table.
 5. The gamesystem of claim 4, wherein a process maker for distinguishing each ofthe reroute points and the navigation points is given to each of thereroute points and the navigation points, the navigation table and thereroute table are configured as a process table in such a way that thenavigation information corresponding to the process marker is set to theprocess marker given to each of the navigation points, and, to theprocess marker given each of the reroute points, the route correspondingto the reroute point is set as the present route together with the newroute.
 6. The game system of claim 4, wherein the navigation table isprepared for each of the routes, the plurality of navigation points areprovided on the corresponding route, the navigation information is setso as to indicate a travelling direction of the corresponding route, andthe route navigating portion displays on the display portion, when theposition of the moving body determined by the position determiningportion has got a predetermined relation with the navigation point, thenavigation information set to the navigation point by referring to thenavigation table of the present route.
 7. The game system of claim 6,wherein in the navigation table of each of the routes set as the newroute, the navigation point is further provided on the road whichconnects to the route, and to the navigation point, the navigationinformation for leading the moving body to the route is correlated. 8.The game system of claim 7, wherein a process marker for distinguishingeach of the reroute points and the navigation points in the virtualregion is given to each of the reroute points and the navigation points,and the navigation table and the reroute table for each of the routes isconfigured as one process table, in which the process markers are set,the process markers being given respectively to the navigation pointsand the reroute points set for each of the routes, in such a way thatthe navigation information corresponding to each of the navigationpoints is set to the process marker given to the navigation point, andthe new route set to each of the reroute points is set to the processmarker given to the reroute point.
 9. The game system of claim 4,further comprising a sound output portion which outputs sound, whereinvoice navigation information for representing the navigation informationby voice is further set to each of the navigation points in thenavigation table, and the route navigating portion outputs through thesound output portion, when displaying the navigation information set tothe navigation portion, a voice navigation by the voice navigationinformation set to the navigation point.
 10. The game system of anyclaim 1, wherein the plurality of roads extended like a web in thevirtual region are roads representing at least one part of general roadsin a predetermined town, and the moving body is a travelling body.
 11. Anon-transitive storage medium storing a game program for making acomputer function, the computer comprising: an operation input portionwhich accepts operations by a player; a game control position whichcontrols a game where a plurality of routes are prepared, each of whichis constructed so that a moving body as an operation object reaches asame destination through a plurality of roads extended like a web in avirtual region, and the traveling roads composing one of the routes areindicated for the moving body so that the moving body follows the routeto reach the destination; and a display portion which displays a statethat the moving body travels the route; a route information storageportion which stores route information which is information forindicating each of the plurality of routes to the player; and a reroutetable where, for each of the routes, to the reroute point which is seton each road off the route, a different route including the road off theroute or a different route connecting to the road off the route is setas a new route, wherein the game program makes the game control portionfunction as: a route determining portion which determines, from theplurality of routes, a present route which is a route where the movingbody is made to travel; a position determining portion which determinesa position of the moving body appropriately to the operation by theplayer; a route navigating portion which indicates the present route tothe player based on the position of the moving body determined by theposition determining portion and the route information of the presentroute; and a reroute thinking portion which, in reference to the reroutetable, determines whether the position of the moving body determined bythe position determining portion has got a predetermined relation with areroute point set on the present route, and makes the route determiningportion determine as the present route, when the reroute thinkingportion determines that the position of the moving body has got thepredetermined relation, the new route set to the reroute point inreference to the reroute table.